J Accid Emerg Med: first published as 10.1136/emj.11.2.97 on 1 June 1994. Downloaded from Journal of Accident and The tragedy at St Peter's Field, , Emergency 16 August 1819* Medicine 1994 11, 97-100 J. MARROW

Accident and Emergency Department, Arrowe Park Hospital, Upton, Wirral, Merseyside

For example, the stated: SUMMARY

In 1819, in Manchester in the north of England, 12 Every patient in the Infirmary was literally turned out, people died and approximately 630 were injured which could possibly be done, preparatory to the horrible when cavalry were used to disperse an orderly butchery which took place on 16th instant, in order to political demonstration. Injuries sustained in the prepare for the wounded which might be brought there for crush exceeded wounds directly from the soldiers' surgical aid. The fact is almost conclusive that something swords. The pattern of injuries is described and was previously arranged, of which the fruits were seen on that bloody day. some aspects of official, medical and popular (Manchester Observer, 28 August 1819) reaction to the incident are discussed. Key words: disaster, history, Manchester, , It seems a bit unfair. We might think it only trauma prudent to try and empty a few additional beds before an event quite likely to lead to civil disorder. It INTRODUCTION would not necessarily indicate a plot with the re- In 1990, the British Association for Accident and pressive government. Emergency Medicine met in Manchester. A major incident resulting in large numbers of casualties Some accusations were more specific: took place less than a mile from the conference http://emj.bmj.com/ hotel, over 170 years before the meeting, on 16 A poor man - cut down on 16 August - in pressure of August 1819. the crowd, occasioned by the charge of the cavalry, had his shoulder dislocated, his elbow crushed and his head Industrial Manchester was already growing fast severely cut. by that date. The first steam locomotive had been At the Infirmary.. .when it came to be his turn to be constructed, however, the railway between Liverpool examined, was thus addressed by one of the surgeons: and Manchester was not to be opened for another 'You won't go to another meeting for reform, I warrant.' on September 29, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 11 years. Manchester was one of the first cities 'Yes, I shall,' was the reply, 'if I can recover. The last outside London to have an Infirmary; it was estab- meeting has shown me more strongly than ever the necess- lished in 1752.1 ity for reform.' The consequence was that he was turned out of the THE INFIRMARY'S RESPONSE infirmary and in that wretched state forced to make his way home.. seven miles as best he could. The Infirmary's Board of Management recorded (The Times, 14 September 1819) discussion of the events following the disaster.2 There was no detail of the injuries, not even a Another paper, The Manchester Courier, reported Correspondence: J. Marrow, simple record of numbers of casualties treated. The that both his shoulders were dislocated, one arm Consultant in Board's concern was to refute allegations of prior was broken and that he had cuts to head and Accident and knowledge of the disaster and of refusal to treat the forehead. The Infirmary Board denied the charge Emergency Care, injured. These allegations were published in various indignantly. Accident and newspapers in the weeks following 16 August. Emergency Department, Arrowe THE MEETING Park Hospital, Upton, * This article is based on a paper read at the Annual Wirral, Merseyside Scientific Meeting of the British Association for Accident Notices of a mass meeting to be held in St Peter's L49 5PE, UK and Emergency Medicine held in Manchester in April 1990. Field in central Manchester had been posted widely. J Accid Emerg Med: first published as 10.1136/emj.11.2.97 on 1 June 1994. Downloaded from J. Marrow The meeting was to be addressed by a renowned business-men and small landowners, they were a popular speaker, , sometimes known as force intended for use in defending the political 'Orator' Hunt. His name on the posters ensured a status quo. Neither horses nor men had experience large turn-out. of action off the parade ground. The purpose of the meeting was to secure reform People came to the meeting from towns and of the parliamentary system with proper represen- villages around Manchester as well as from the city tation for the growing industrial towns of the north. itself. Some contingents were led by bands and The Radical Reformers, as they were called, did banners. As far as we can tell they were unarmed sometimes borrow ideas from the recent French and certainly they brought women and children with Revolution. The committee of magistrates who were them to hear the famous speaker.4 responsible for law and order in Manchester were The magistrates gathered while the Field was still extremely nervous by the time 16 August dawned. empty and nervously watched from the first floor of There was not yet any regular police force. The a house in Mount Street. Apparently what alarmed magistrates had at their disposal a small body of them was the orderliness and quiet patience with about 30 watchmen and patrolmen, under the direc- which the crowd waited in the sun for the meeting to tion of an official called the Boroughreeve, two start. unpaid constables and one Deputy Constable. When Estimates of the size of the crowd range from trouble was anticipated special constables were 30000 to 150000, the lower figure is the more sworn in. For the meeting on 16 August between probable.5 When the carriage arrived carrying Henry 400 and 500 had been assembled.3 Hunt and his party the magistrates could bear it It was also quite usual for the authorities to call no longer and issued warrants for the arrest of upon the army for support in maintaining order. Only the speakers. The special constables were by 2 years previously the army had been involved in now engulfed in the huge crowd so notes were suppressing a similar meeting in the same open sent to the two main cavalry formations requesting space. That operation, in the hands of an experi- assistance. enced general, had passed without any bloodshed It seems that word reached the detached force at all. Unfortunately there was an important race of inexperienced Yeomanry cavalry first. They meeting in on the 16 August, 1819. With raced to St Peter's Field with drawn sabres. They permission from the Home Office the armed forces had killed one civilian, an infant knocked from her in Manchester, more than 1000 men, were left in the mother's arms, before they reached the assembly.6 http://emj.bmj.com/ charge of the general's deputy. Once the horsemen were in the crowd it is no The map shows how the military forces were wonder there was a panic, adding to the injuries deployed. Most of the cavalry were several blocks from the sabres and the horses hooves. When the away from St Peter's Field, towards the Irwell. A Hussars arrived, moments later, there was no room similar distance away, eastward, beyond the for the skilful manoeuvering which had saved the church, there was a detachment of volunteer day in 1817. They went into action to rescue the on September 29, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. Yeomanry Cavalry. They were raised at the expense of a local landowner, richly uniformed but poorly trained. Recruited from the petit bourgeousie,

St Peter's

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Fig. 2. The 'Peterloo' massacre. Detail of an aquatint, Royal Horse Artillry possibly by G. Cruikshank. Published by R. Carlile, London, 1 October 1819. Reproduced by kind permission Fig. 1. Map of the area around St Peter's Field on 16 of the Local Studies Library of the Manchester Central 98 August 1819. Library. The St Peter's field Yeomanry and clear the field. The arrests proceeded Table 2. Nature of the recorded injuries J Accid Emerg Med: first published as 10.1136/emj.11.2.97 on 1 June 1994. Downloaded from massacre and the platform party were marched off to the New Bailey Prison. It was all over in 20 minutes. Sabre and other cuts 215 Newspaper reports gave the Government's official Head wounds 90 Fatalities 7 reaction. The Prince Regent commanded: Bayonetted or stabbed 16 Trampled or crushed 357 that Royal Satisfaction be expressed at the prompt decisive Fatalities 6 measures of the magistrates for the preservation of the Beaten 44 public tranquility. Fatality 1 (The Times, 21 August 1819). Unspecified 105

He also sent special thanks to the Yeomanry. The Many patients suffered combinations of reality of the disaster was partly revealed, injuries, e.g. 103 were sabred and also trampled, beaten or bayonetted. Now ensues a most painful and melancholy part of our recital. The necessary ardour of the troops in the discharge men on horseback, the predominance of head of their duty has led to some fatal and many serious wounds is no surprise. Perhaps it is not surprising accidents. (The Times, 19 August 1819) either, that more were hurt from the crush and panic than from the direct effects of the swords. The constables caused relatively few injuries. On foot THE INJURIES and in the crowd they were not at an advantage and Early reports mentioned eight or 10 dead with about at least two were amongst the dead. 50 wounded (The Times, 19, 21 August 1819). On The smaller number of females injured than men 16 and 17 August there were 63 casualties admitted probably does not reflect particular discrimination or to the Infirmary, of whom three died. Eleven people chivalry on the part of the soldiers but rather the fact were admitted in the subsequent week. It was diffi- that there were fewer women in the crowd than cult to get an overall picture. The injured came from men. many parts of the region and some delayed reporting We can be quite precise about the deaths, as their injuries because they were frightened of the inquests of a sort were held in cases of violent consequences.6 death. The proceedings did not always have the http://emj.bmj.com/ On 3 September, The Times published a list, impartiality that would be expected now. giving the names of 198 persons injured, which had The total number of deaths quoted varies, been collected by a lawyer with radical sympathies. depending on which should be included. The author's The author classified the list by sex and by method list does not include a man who died on the evening of injury. There was also a primitive attempt at of 16 August, elsewhere in Manchester, as infantry 'b' followed of the names units attempted to suppress continuing protests. It severity scoring, many on September 29, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. indicating that the person was 'badly hurt'. does include those who died actually in St Peter's Other detailed lists of the injured were published Field and also those who died later as a result of later. Table 1 shows the likely toll of death and injury injuries sustained there. ofthe event which came to be known as 'the '. 'Peterloo' came from the name of the Table 3. The causes of death Field and from the recent battle at Waterloo, in which the 15th Hussars had actually fought. Sabre wounds 5 By combining the data from all the lists, the modes Sabred and trampled 2 Trampled by horses 3 With swords wielded of injury can be analysed. by Crushed in a cellar 1 Crushed and beaten 1 Table 1. Numbers of injuries and deaths Total 12 Under 16 8 Females 165 Males 461 Sex not recorded 4 RELIEF OF THE SUFFERERS Total injuries Deaths Funds were collected in 1819 to relieve the suffering 99 which followed Peterloo. The accounts which were J Accid Emerg Med: first published as 10.1136/emj.11.2.97 on 1 June 1994. Downloaded from J. Marrow kept by those responsible for these funds are a by 1850. The now occupies part of fascinating commentary on both the pattern of the site. injuries sustained and the social attitudes of those The events of 16 August 1819 had one conse- days. In the John Rylands Library of the University quence which has survived. The Times newspaper of Manchester is a leather-bound pocket book had sent a reporter to St Peter's Field. His name in which an unknown writer recorded the details was John Tyas and to make sure that he heard what of 418 beneficiaries of the Metropolitan and the speakers said, he got himself a place right on Central Committee for the Relief of the Manchester the hustings. When the trouble began Tyas was Sufferers.7 locked up with the speakers and could not send his The writer notes social detail as well as brief story. Watching the demonstration that day was a accounts of injuries in a clear hand. Some examples young cotton merchant called . follow. He felt sympathy for the Reformers and sent an John Brierley might have deserved more than the account of the day to the London papers. Not 20 shillings awarded as compensation for injuries having received dispatches from their regular sustained when he was 'thrown down and trampled reporter, The Times printed Taylor's account. Taylor on by the cavalry and crushed by the crowd'. The stayed in journalism and in 1821 founded the writer also notes that 'He had some bread and Manchester Guardian. Now called cheese in his hat which saved head from being cleft his newspaper still seeks to continue its founder's with the stroke of a sabre.' liberal ideals. Jane Ditchfield, a widow, received 25 shillings to help with her five children for 5 weeks while she ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS recovered from 'a severe sabre cut in the left leg'. This makes an odd contrast with Isaac Murray who The author wishes to thank the staff of the John was awarded 60 shillings because he 'was a fort- Rylands Library of Manchester University for night in prison'. No physical injury is mentioned, their help in preparing this paper. I am grateful to however, the writer states that he was 'a genteel the Librarian of the Local Studies Library of the young man, a poet'. Manchester Central Library for permission to repro- Samuel Jackson lost a leg as a result of a gunshot duce the contemporary print of the scene in on the evening after the meeting. He was probably St Peter's Field. Two papers from the Manchester

nothing to do with the disturbances but 'was going Region History Review are cited below but the http://emj.bmj.com/ to see his aunt'. He received £13 in total, the highest Special Issue published in 1989 about the 'Peterloo' amount awarded. James Lees sustained 'two massacre contained much useful information for desperate cuts on the head, one 5 inches long by which I should like to thank its editors. one of the 15th Hussars. Taken to the Infirmary and after being strped [sic] one of the junior surgeons

REFERENCES on September 29, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. ordered him to a bed and put a ticket with his name on it. Dr Ransome asked him if he had enough of 1. Duffield H.G. (1850) The Stranger's Guide to Manchester meetings and on his reply in the nega- Manchester. Richardson, Manchester. tive he was told there was no room for him'. The 2. Renaud F. (1898) A Short History of the Rise and patient did not have even one dislocated shoulder Progress of the Manchester Royal Infirmary From the and it would seem that politics influenced the behav- Year 1752 to 1877. J.E. Cornish, Manchester. iour of at least one Manchester doctor. 3. Reid R. (1989) The Peterloo Massacre. Heinemann, London. 4. Dunckley H. (1983) Bamford's Passages in the Life of a Radical and Early Days. Fisher Unwin, London. CONCLUSION 5. Bee M. & Bee W. (1989) The casualties of Peterloo. Manchester Region History Review 3(1) 43-49. The year 1819 was about the time when the grand- 6. Marlowe J. (1989) The day of Peterloo. Manchester parents of the oldest patients we now see were Region History Review 3(1) 3-7. born. The street-names of central Manchester have 7. Account Book of the Metropolitan and Central Com- altered little, but almost all the buildings are much mittee Appointed for the Relief of the Manchester more recent. St Peter's Field itself was all built over Sufferers (1820), London.

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